Job openings surge in September

The number of jobs open in September rose to 5.5 million, beating expectations.

Expectations were for the latest job openings and labor turnover survey — or JOLTS report — to show job openings totaled 5.4 million in September.

In August there were 5.37 million jobs available.

The number of hires in September decreased slightly from August, to 5.05 million from 5.08 million. The number of separations also decreased slightly, to 4.84 million from 4.89 million.

The quits rates, which is seen as a measure of how confident workers are they could find another (presumably better paying job), remained steady at 1.9% for the sixth straight month.

By industry, the only pronounced changes in the quits rate was in construction, where the rate increased to 2% from 1.7% in August, and arts, entertainment, and recreation, where the quits rate fell to 2.6% from 3.2% in August, likely correcting from August's end-of-summer turnover for jobs like lifeguards and camp counselors.

In a note to clients following the report, Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Macro wrote, "These numbers are consistent with other measures of the tightness of the labor market, signaling that employers can't find the qualified staff they need. This is a key reason why jobless claims are so low; employers are holding onto staff because it's so hard to replace them."